Opinion | Staying focused in a crazy Washington

Before the new Congress began at the start of this year, I made a prediction: with the new Democrat majority, we could expect crazy season from the left with Democrat members taking every chance they could to undermine President Donald Trump.

I don’t claim to have a crystal ball, but I think I hit the nail on the head in this case.

So far in just the first month and a half of the 116th Congress, the Democratic Party has become the Obstructionist Party. They have stood in the way of strong national security measures, our American values and Trump.

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We saw a prime example of this just last week when the president was left with no other option to secure our borders and get a handle on the national security crisis there than to declare a national emergency.

Ensuring the safety of the American people is a fight worth fighting, and while I wish it hadn’t come to this point, the Democrats have left Trump with no choice. We must secure the border and build the wall.

But it seems that Democrat craziness is totally unbounded this year, not just when it comes to border security but on issues of abortion, the environment and the Second Amendment. They have completely lost sight of our core American values and are not listening to the millions of Americans who still hold fast to those values.

As long as I am in Congress, I will continue to do everything in my power to keep focus in a crazy Washington. I remain dedicated to the issues that matter most to Alabamians, and I will continue to fight for you.

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The crisis at the Southern border is real, yet Democrats seem intent on doing everything they can to push their open border policies. They want to put a cap on the number of people ICE can detain, but they don’t want to do anything to secure the border. In other words, it seems they just want to let criminals get away without any consequences. We are a nation of laws, and they need to be enforced.

A few weeks ago, House Democrats blocked Rep. Steve Scalise, R-Louisiana, from testifying during a committee hearing on gun violence. Democrats are pushing new gun laws that would restrict the Second Amendment rights of law-abiding Americans without doing anything to actually prevent crime.

As a victim of gun violence himself, it only seemed appropriate that Congressman Scalise should share his views. The issue, however, was that he still believes in supporting the Second Amendment, as do I, but this was not what the Democrats wanted to hear.

Then, we have the Green New Deal, which is nothing more than unserious, unfocused political messaging, proposed at the expense of the American people. This plan is poorly thought out, horribly expensive and puts partisan politics over the American people. Let’s call it out for what it is.

And far too many Democrats in Congress have made it clear they support infanticide, either with outright statements of support for radical abortion measures, or through their silence in not condemning late-term and live-birth abortion. In fact, we have attempted to pass a bill to ensure a baby born alive after an attempted abortion receives appropriate medical care, but Democrats even object to that bill.

On every one of these issues, it seems commonsense has lost out, and Democrats are most interested in pandering to the far left than solving problems.

No matter how out-of-touch, crazy and disconnected Washington, D.C. and the Democrats get, I will remain steadfast in fighting for the values we hold dear in Alabama.